Use this handy Markdown to embed a video in your GitHub Discussion post of choice

If you’re a GitHub maintainer or user, you may want to embed YouTube videos in your Discussions posts.

Why? Because bringing YouTube videos will enhance interactions and make your posts more approachable. By embedding a video directly into your discussion post, you make it easier for other community members to access and engage with the content you’re sharing.

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to embed a YouTube link in a Community Discussions post (Example thread).

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Find Your YouTube Video: Go to YouTube and find the video you want to embed in your discussion post.

2. Generate the Thumbnail Image Link: YouTube generates thumbnail images for each video. The URL for these thumbnails is structured as follows:

   http://img.youtube.com/vi/VIDEO_ID/0.jpg
   

   Replace VIDEO_ID with the actual ID of your YouTube video. The ID is the string of characters that appears after v= in the YouTube URL. For example, in http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8jQ9hVA2qs, the video ID is r8jQ9hVA2qs.

3. Prepare the Markdown: Use the following Markdown structure to embed the video in your discussion post:

   [![Let's Learn Git Together](http://img.youtube.com/vi/r8jQ9hVA2qs/0.jpg)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8jQ9hVA2qs "Let's Learn Git Together")
   

   Here’s how this Markdown works:

   • [![Let's Learn Git Together](http://img.youtube.com/vi/r8jQ9hVA2qs/0.jpg)]: This part creates a clickable image. The ![Let's Learn Git Together] is the alt text for the image, which helps with accessibility.
   • (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8jQ9hVA2qs "Let's Learn Git Together"): This part specifies the link and the tooltip. When someone clicks the image, it will take them to the YouTube video. The text in quotes is the tooltip that appears when the mouse hovers over the link.

4. Customize the Markdown: Swap out the placeholder text and URLs with your own video’s details. For example, if your video is about learning Git and the video ID is r8jQ9hVA2qs, your Markdown would look like this:

   [![Learn Git Efficiently](http://img.youtube.com/vi/r8jQ9hVA2qs/0.jpg)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8jQ9hVA2qs "Learn Git Efficiently")
   

5. Post in Your Discussion: Copy the customized Markdown and paste it into your GitHub discussion post. Once you publish the post, the video will appear as an embedded thumbnail image. Clicking this thumbnail will open the YouTube video.

Example

Here’s an example of what your Markdown might look like:

[![Let's Learn Git Together](http://img.youtube.com/vi/r8jQ9hVA2qs/0.jpg)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8jQ9hVA2qs "Let's Learn Git Together")

Conclusion

Embedding YouTube videos in GitHub Discussions is a straightforward process that can significantly will enhance your interactions. Try it and let me know if you have any issues!